My Favorite Beauty-Tubers

I love YouTube.  I admit it. If you're reading this, most likely you do too. In 'No Place For Sissies' (below) I mentioned having discovered, a couple of years ago, the plethora of beauty channels that exist on YouTube.  In another article ('The Makeup Box'), I explained a bit about the roots of my makeup addiction. Here I want to explain how my two guilty pleasures are intertwined into one big 'idée fixe' in my mind and introduce you to my current favorite YouTubers. This is a way for me to thank them for the hours of pleasure they have given me.

To give you some background, my husband and I decided a few years ago, due to his failing health, he would be better off living in the American West with its dry climate, rather than the Midwest (northernmost Indiana, to be specific) with its high humidity and long, cold winters. So we bought a used RV and set off for the high desert. We left behind family, careers, belongings and a comfortable lifestyle. My husband brought some clothes, favorite books, a few tools, 500+ movies (he has his addiction, too), various paperwork/tax records. I brought a drastically reduced wardrobe (not much closet space in an RV), a few treasured mementos, my jewelry making supplies/equipment, some kitchen stuff and SIX tote bags of makeup. (Yes, really! Shaking my head...) We've spent our time largely in Arizona and Utah, moving north and south with the weather, meeting an amazing number of retirees who live the same way. After four years, we're growing a bit tired of the road, and have concluded southwestern Utah is where we feel most comfortable. For a myriad of reasons we think we'll settle here. It's our soul candy.

Didn't mean to digress, but wanted to give you some background on our current unusual lifestyle, which will explain to a degree my recent thing for YouTube. You see, when I was working, I was so out of my element. It was a fast-paced, rapidly growing company. However, I'm not a fast-paced person. No Type A personality here, boy howdy. By nature, I'm somewhat reticent and sort of shy till you get to know me. But by sheer determination, and a boss who stood behind me continually pushing me out of my comfort zone, I rose from an entry level position to a modicum of career success and sociable outgoingness. I stayed with that company nearly 20 years. Then, when we made the decision to retire and move west, in only a matter of weeks I was plunged from a constant adrenalin rush into the disquieting solitude of being far removed from family, co-workers, social life. I hadn't really anticipated the culture shock this would have.

Despite living in rural areas far, far from the nearest Sephora, I still love me some beautiful makeup!  I tried, really tried to overcome my addiction.  I mean, c'mon!  I'm out west with the cowgirls! Who really cares if I have on a full face of makeup? That I've aced the cut crease? That my eyebrows are as 'on fleek' as they're ever likely to get? That I'm wearing the strobiest of highlighters? (Is strobiest even a word? Spellcheck says not.) Well, I care. But I did find a way to satisfy the yen for makeup shopping without going on a 70 mile trek to the nearest Ulta, spending too much money. That way was through YouTube Beauty Gurus. Or as I like to call them, 'Beauty Tubers'.

'Beauty Tubers' come in all sizes, ages, genders and shapes.  Some are actual makeup artists while some are makeup lovers who show us their latest acquisitions. Some review products, some do tutorials on how to get a specific look; some focus on the hair, some are more into skincare; some do it all. They share tips and tricks, likes and dislikes, and in a 15 or 20 minute video, are the fun friend you can talk to about all things beauty-related. Well, they do all the talking, but you know what I mean.

I was fairly indiscriminate at first in my YouTube beauty channel choices. Early on after discovering these fellow makeup mavens, I was subscribed to around 50 channels, but it became overwhelming. It's now pared down to maybe a dozen.  I like many of the younger Tubers, but don't always relate.  After all, I am 62!  Of the younger ones, I very much enjoy Kathleenlights, Jaclyn Hill, NikkieTutorials and Chrisspy, all talented beautiful girls. Lately, however, I've been gravitating more towards YouTubers in my own age bracket, or at least over 40. I've added hyperlinks to everyone mentioned here, so all you have to do to visit them is to click on their channel names.

A special favorite, though young enough to be my daughter, that I've watched for quite a while now is Shonagh Scott of the channel ShowMeMakeup. An incredible makeup artist, she lives in the U.K. Since I'm a bonafide Anglophile, she had that in her favor right off the bat!  My maternal grandparents were from England and my mother taught us at an early age to adore all things British.  But that's only the tiniest facet of why I love this girl.  I greatly admire her professionalism; that's one of the first things I noticed about her.  But mainly, she has skills that are jaw-dropping!  You should tune in to her channel and watch her Halloween videos. Oh. My. Gosh. I'm often so blown away by her talent, I send her videos to my husband, saying "You gotta see this!" She showed me how to do the best brows and how to apply false lashes--speaking of, she did a giveaway a little while back and kindly selected me as one of her winners. Sent me some stunning eyelashes but best of all, enclosed a personal little note, which I treasure! I will always watch Shonagh as long as she puts out videos. Even if I live to be 100.

On a channel I used to watch, I heard Kristin Gehm's name mentioned a couple of times. So I searched her out; her channel name is eponymous: Kristin Gehm. She's younger, but that doesn't make any difference; I really like Kristin a lot because I relate to her. She's a bit you, she's a bit me, she's Everywoman. And because she's from the Midwest, she makes me feel right at home. She has the ability to get tickled at her own little peccadillos, which I highly appreciate. She does great reviews and has a fun series she calls 'Four Looks, One Palette'. Like the majority of the others named here, she goes out of her way to respond to nearly everyone who comments. To me, that's very caring. She's real, she's kind, she makes me laugh with her and she seems like just a genuinely nice person. Plus we have a common passion for all things taupe! All of which keeps me coming back for more.

There is a lady from Tennessee who I swear must be an angel on Earth. Every time I watch her, I'm overcome with admiration and warmth for her loving personality.  How she manages to express her innate goodness through the camera, I'll never know.  But she is a true delight and you can't help but love her!  She's Melissa of Melissa55.  She tells us she's 60 now, but you'd never guess it. She's drop-dead stunning! But even more than that, she's like the girl next door we always dreamt of being. She's like a modern blend of Doris Day, Bo Derek and Brigitte Bardot.  You can tell by her manner she doesn't even believe inside that she's that beautiful. But she is. Drenched in Southern charm, she will absolutely captivate you and melt your heart.

Last, but far from least, is a lady I'm proud to call friend, even though I've never actually met her. She's MaryEllen of MaryEllen After 60. MaryEllen is another woman imbued with warmth and an exquisitely lovely personality. A Midwesterner, she's located not too far from where I grew up.  She makes me feel as though I could come over and have a cup of coffee while we natter on for a couple of hours.  She's low key and soft-spoken and her natural sweetness radiates from her beautiful brown eyes. Though they look and sound nothing alike, she sometimes reminds me of Melissa55 in that they have the same kind of inward goodness that they're able to communicate to their audiences. MaryEllen did me the immense favor of mentioning this blog on her channel not long ago. Uninspired, I hadn't written in around two years, but once she gave me a 'shout out' and then a second one, my page views doubled seemingly overnight. It motivated me to write again! Thank you so much, MaryEllen. I'm forever grateful.

There are some other 'Beauty Tubers' deserving of mention:

Elle Is For Living: A super nice lady in the Phoenix area; her channel is geared to lifestyle, self-improvement and thrifty (use it up!) makeup. Elle would make a great motivational speaker or life coach. She also gave 'The Makeup Box' a thumbs up on her channel a while back; thanks Elle!

MsKristinn321: Best foundation reviews on YouTube, in my opinion! In fact, all her reviews are very comprehensive and objective. Friends with Melissa55, they occasionally film videos together. They seem to have so much fun together and to watch them puts a big old grin on my face.

Nathalie the BeautyDiva: A French Canadian, she's the epitome of old Hollywood Glamour, which she occasionally spotlights on her channel. Love her unabashed style and how she stays true to herself. She greets us or bids us adieu with a smattering of beautiful French verbiage which adds to her whole mystique.  A truly lovely lady.

SugarPuffandFluff: Nisha is a bombshell of a blonde living in the U.K., originally from Poland, which gives her the most fascinating accent! She has the best hooded eye makeup tutorials on YouTube. Her style has an 'Ann Margaret-in-her-heyday' vibe but with an oh, so modern twist. Just gorgeous.

There are many, many others I could mention but I'll stop for now.  The ladies mentioned above have impacted my life in no small way. For a displaced person, they have kept me company, talking about things I love to talk about, sharing glimpses of their lives and reminding me that if you really want to do something, you can be brave and just do it.  I commend them on putting themselves in the public eye, braving the haters so prevalent on social media today, just being themselves and doing what they love to do.

Kudos and heartfelt thanks to you all!

Till next time,

"It's not vanity to feel you have the right to be beautiful. Women are taught to feel we are not good enough, that we must live up to someone else's standards. But my aim is to cherish myself as I am."  ~Elle Macpherson